How to fix the Red Sox.

Looking back on this terrible, awful and embarrassing 2012 season of the Boston Red Sox, there’s several things that jump out at you as problems that immediately need to be fixed before this team will be successful. One of those problems has already been rectified with the firing of Bobby Valentine. Now the team needs to move on and try and solve the other issues so that next year they can be in the hunt to make the playoffs.

• Find a manager who can handle the stress and pressure of Boston. 
• Obviously Bobby V wasn't the right choice. He would get annoyed very easily during interviews and that led to his relationship with the media to become strained. The team needs to hire someone who can handle the press as well as Terry Francona did. Obviously everyone is predicting John Farrell will be the 46^th manager of the Boston Red Sox but what if Toronto doesn't let him go? In that case I think they need to bring someone in who has a track record of being able to communicate well with the players, especially young players. This team is young at many positions and the new skipper needs to be able to be patient with them. Something that Bobby V was terrible at. For example, after an inning where rookie Will Middlebrooks made 2 costly errors, Bobby yelled over to him “Good inning Will!” when Middlebrooks was coming to the dugout. What a fucking asshole Bobby V was.

• The next manager also needs to be able to have the respect of his players. Bobby V was hated before he even set foot in the clubhouse this year. That was just a recipe for disaster. Apparently John Farrell is a pretty intimidating guy who’s not afraid to bitch out a player for not giving a full effort or for skipping a workout. That’s exactly what this team needs and I think bringing in Farrell could change the culture of the clubhouse which is desperately needed.

• Obtain some good, solid starting pitchers. 
• The past 3 years this team has been on a downward spiral when it comes to starting pitching. You see the connection? The team has missed the playoffs the last 3 years, and they have had 3 years of bad pitching. I understand there’s only a few actual “number 1’s” in the league right now but something needs to be done. Lester and Buchholz have underperformed the last 2 seasons. Lester has always said John Farrell was one of his favorite pitching coaches ever so hopefully if Farrell comes to Boston to manage he can straighten out Lester and bring him back to the level he was at in 2010 when he was 19-9 and posted a 3.25 ERA. 

• After seeing what the Orioles did this year, I believe that the Red Sox could build a rotation by picking up two #4 of #5 type starters. Lester, Buchholz, Dubront (who impressed me this year) and then add two end of the rotation starters and I think they will be set to compete.

• Figure out the David Ortiz situation and react accordingly. 
• If they decide to go to arbitration with him, or if they somehow come to an agreement and he remains in Boston, they need to get another big bat to put in front of him in the batting order. Although Ortiz had a pretty decent year before he got injured, many teams could have chosen to pitch around him. And especially now that Gonzalez is gone there’s really no reason for anyone to throw him a good pitch. 

• If they decide to keep him I believe the Red Sox management is declaring that they think they could still compete for a championship next year. Why would they bring back an aging DH for $14m+ a year if they were rebuilding in 2013. It makes no sense so I think the decision with Ortiz could tell us a lot about what direction this team is heading in. 

• If they keep him it’s imperative to get a bat to protect David so he has the opportunity to hit. I’m not sure the Red Sox will go back to their old ways and try and sign Josh Hamilton for $120m+ of 5 or 6 years (although I would love to see him in a Red Sox uniform). I have heard several rumors about guys like Mike Napoli who could provide Ortiz protection, can play 1^st base and can be signed without breaking the bank.

No doubt about it, it’s a tough time to be a Red Sox fan. But, I think if they can find a manager who can handle this team and the pressure of playing in Boston, a few starters to fill out the rotation and another power hitter I really think they can compete. I mean I just watched an Orioles team with a bunch of mediocre players beat the Texas Rangers in the playoffs. Anything is possible in the MLB these days. Make a few changes within the lineup and change the club house culture and I think we’re set to compete like we have for the past decade.